Gauging machine



Dec. 5, 1944.

J. YABLONSKY 2,364,263

GAUGING MACHINE Filed NOV. 12, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JOgEPH L.YABLON8KY Mai ATTORNEYS Dec. 5, 1944. J. L. YABLONSKY 2,364,263

GAUGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 12, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR J'OQ E ZPH L. YA BLONSKY ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 5, 1944 GAUGING MACHINE Joseph L. Yablonsky, Fairfield, Conn.. assignor to Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application November 12, 1942, Serial No. 465,381

3 Claims.

This invention relates, in' general, to gauging machines, and, in particular, a stop gauge adapted to be used on a machine for processing tubular articles.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved mean for preventing substandard articles from being transferred from a hopper or other supply source to article processing means. A further object is to provide a stop gauge which will allow only those articles to pass which have standard dimensions. A still further object is to provide a stop gauge comprising sharp blades adapted to extend into grooves in th articles being transferred into article processing means; and to engage the walls of those grooves which are not a predetermined distance from the ends of the article, thereby preventing the transfer of such substandard articles to the processing means.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in greater detail in the following specification which describes one form of the invention particularly adapted to a specific type of machine. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited thereby and moreover includes all modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic front elevation of a cartridge case tapering press.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the transfer dial and automatic feed means shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the dial and feed means of Fig. 1 at the point of joinder of these two elements.

Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectional elevation on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan View of one of the blades shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the second blade shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line 9-9 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation of One of the blades and a portion of a cartridge case shown in cooperative relationship therewith.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of a modified type of transfer dial and feed dial for use with the tapering press shown in Fig. 1. s

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the feed dial shown in Fig. 11. i

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on line l3-l3 of Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the blade shown in Fig. 12. I

Fig. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary sectiona elevation of the blade.

Fig. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the blade showing a portion of a cartridge case in cooperative relationship therewith.

The machine chosen to illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a well known type of tapering press widely used in production of small arms ammunition components, and, in particular, rimless or semirimless cartridge cases. i

Cartridge cases of .30 and .50 caliber are'usual- 1y formed from a metal blank, such as brass or harder metal, by a series of drawing operations including heat treatments between successive draws until adeep drawn tubular case is formed having a substantially dome-shaped closed end. These cases are trimmed to length and thereafter headed in a series of operations wherein the ends of the cases are flattened and pockets are formed therein for the percussion caps.

cases are fed into a head turning machine which turns a bevelled flange and an extraction groove on the head end of the cases.

After proper heat treatment, the cases are finally fed from a hopper or other supply source to a suitable tapering press adapted to taper the body and neck portions of the cases. During the tapering operation, the cases are supported mouth end up on a fixed support or table and are moved around the table successively to the'several tapering and sizing stations by a transfer means or spider which is rotatably secured to the table and which has bifurcated fingers adapted too tend over the flanges of the cases and to enter be that the cases are not held down positively-on the table and hence willtend to move upwardly during the upward movement of the tapering dies and will be retained on the table, if at all, only by the engagement of the flanges of the cases beneath the fingers of the transfer spider.

For a standard case having a flange of predetermined thickness, the flange will be sufficiently stiff to withstand the force necessar to successfully strip a tapering die from the case, but, if the flange is abnormally thin, it will give way thus allowing the case to be carried up by the die through the fingers of the transfer dial without stripping the case from the tapering die. As a result, the case itself is ruined; moreover, every additional case which is moved successively beneath the tapering die will be crumpled due to the presence of the unstripped case inthe die, and the strippingpunches themselves may be bent or broken.

The present invention embodies improved means'for preventing cases with abnormally thin flanges from being fed into the transfer dial so as to obviate thev occurrence of smashed cases and other malfunctions due, to stripping failures.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows sche- 'ma.tically one form of cartridge case taperin member adjacent one edge for suitably mounting a motor- .25. which. is provided with a pulley 26 connected by a belt 21 to a large flywheel 28. The latter is carried on one end of a horizontal crank shaft 23 which is rotatably journalled in bearings in the two vertical legs '30 of the head member. The crank shaft rotatably supports a pair of connecting arms 32 which are pivotally connected at their lower ends to a reciprocating block-V33, each side of which is guided in a suitable way formed in the vertical legs 30.

The reciprocating block 33 is apertured as at 3, to accommodate a reciprocating plate 35 which is carried on the lower end of a vertical post 33. The upper end of the post 36 extends through an aperture 31 in the block 33 and carries at its upper end a cam roller 38 adapted to be held. by a coil spring (not shown) in contact with. a plate cam 33 secured on the crank shaft 23.. The; post 36' reciprocates within a sleeve 40 which iswelded; or otherwise, secured to the block 33 in axial alignment with the aperture 31 and which provides fastening means for the lower ends of a pair'of tie rods 42. The up r ends of the tiev rods carry coil springs 43 seated onthe head member 23. which: areadapted to dampen the motion of: the. reciprocatingblock 33.

It will thus be evident that the block 33. and plate 35, carried within the aperture, 31, reciprocate relative; to each other, the cycle and length of stroke of'eachbeing determined by the orientationof the plate cam 33. with respect to the. crank ofthe shaft 23.

The plate 35' carries a pair of stripping punches 44-, the lower ends ofwhich extend down through suitable apertures in the lower part of the reciprocatingblock 33: in; axial alignment with a pair of tapering dies l'adjustablysecured to the reciprocating. block-.j Additional punches 46 and 4! are shown. secured on the face of the, block 33 to perform inspection and mouth ironingoperations., and; if: desirable; a, third pun h m y be provldedfor performing a finalball sizing operaone.

Immediately beneath the head 33 is an article transfer means-{indicated generally at", details case.

of which are shown in Fig. 2, and which comprises a spider 49 adapted to rotate intermittently on a rimmed dial or table 50 fixed to the bed 22. The spider comprises a plurality of radially disposed bifurcated fingers 52, the outer ends of which are in close proximity to the rim of the table and are raised slightly above the urface of the table so as to provide just enough clearance between the table top and the underside of the fingers for the entrance of the flange of a standard cartridge case.

Cartridge cases are fed from a point of supply into the fingers 52 which fit into the extraction grooves of the cases. The cases are then transferred successively by the transfer spider 43 to the punches and dies carried by the reciprocating head 33 and finally to a discharge point.

The discharge of the tapered articles from the transfer dial is accomplished by means of a cam block 53 fixedly secured opposite a breech 54 in the rim of the table 50.

In the machine shown in Fig. l, the articles are supplied to the transfer dial from an automatic feed hopper 55 which is mounted on the side of the frame 23 and which feeds case to a point of supply by means of the flexible tube 56. The point of supply indicated generally at 51, comprises a slot 58 formed by two spaced parallel guide blocks 59 and 60 and a pusher bar 62 adapted to be reciprocated within the slot 53 by an oscillating lever 63. The latter is actuated by its toothed engagement with a pivoted lever 54 which in turn is oscillated by engagement of its opposite end with a roller 65 carried by the reciprocating block 33, see Fi 1. Articles are fed from the tube 56 down into the slot 58 in front of the pusher bar 62 and are advanced thereby into the fingers of the transfer dial.

It will be understood, of course, that the above description has been of one form of machine which is particularly adapted for use with the present invention, but which does not embody the elements thereof.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 3' which. illustrates a fragmentary plan view of the tapering press at the supply point 51. The pair of spaced guide blocks 53 and 60 are shown secured to the bracket 65 opposite a breach 6] in the rim of the fixed transfer table 53. The slot 58 between these blocks defines the path which the cases take when moved by the pusher bar 62 from the discharge end of the feed tube 56 forward into the fingers of the transfer spider. The floor of the slot 58 is, adjacent its forward end, formed by a hardened steel insert 68 which is embedded and secured within a slot 59 milled in the bracket 66, as shown in. Fig. 4. The discharge end of the feed tube 55 is supported by a block 560 secured to the guides 58 and 60.; the block 580 is adapted to support a lip member 581 which extends forwardly in the slot '58 (see Fig. 2) substantially parallel to the hardened floor 68 thereof and spaced vertically therefrom substantially the height of a standard cartridge The lip member thus constitutes means adapted to engage the mouth of each case as it passes thereunder for holding the cases down on the floor 68 as they are being advanced by the pusher bar 62 into engagement with gauging means hereinafter described.

Suitable means for gauging the articles being fed from the slot 58 into the fingers of the transfer dial.comprises a restricted passage or gate consisting of two composite blades indicated generally at I0 and 12 secured on the top surface of the bracket 66 on opposite sides of the slot 58 in substantially parallel relation by means of a pair of machine screws.

A portion of the underside of each guide block 59 and 60, adjacent its forward end, is milled of the blade 12 is cut back from its front right corner, see Fig. 3, in a substantially straight bevel Tl which terminates in a rounded corner at the exit end of the stop gauge. The bevelled edge I! is adapted to engage the cartridge cases being moved'by the transfer spider, as hereinafter 1.

described, so as to cam the cases back behind the upstanding rim of the transfer table, the bevelled edge ll being substantially continuous with the inside surface of the rim as shown in Fig. 3.

The composite blade H1 comprises two substan tially rectangular plates ml and 702 secured together by dowels, as shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6, each plate having one bevelled side. The side HM of the upper plate comprises a single bevel of substantially 45 degrees adapted to form a sharp knife-like edge on the blade adjacent the path 58 of the cartridge case; the corresponding side of the lower plate 'Hll comprises a pair of bevels of substantially 60 degrees which intersect to form a V-shaped edge, the apex of which lies substantially in the vertical plane of the knife edge TM. The composite blade 12 comprises two plates Hi6 and I01, see Figs. 7, 8 and 9, joined by dowels, the lower plate 101 having a bevelled edge 108 similar to the edge I05 of the plate 102 but extending around two sides of the plate. The upper plate I06 is provided with a knife edge "19 similar to the knife edge 704 above described along that edge of the blade which forms one side of the restricted passage. However, as shown in Fig. '7, this knife edge does not continue around the corner of the blade along its bevelled edge Tl, but 'stops adjacent the corner. As seen in Fig. 9, the edge H0 of the upper plate N16 is substantially square and set back from the bevelled edge 168.

A clear illustration of the relationship between the gauging means or bevelled edge of one of the blades and the extraction groove and flange of a case is shown in Fig. 10.

Thus, when a case having standard retaining means, that is to say, an extraction groove indicated generally at 80, the walls of which are correctly disposed withrespect to the closed end of the case, is moved forward through the slot 58 into the restricted passage or stop gauge defined by the spaced parallel bevelled edges of the blades '10 and 12, the knife edge 104, see Fig, 10, will only just touch, if at all, the sloping walls 80 of the extraction groove, the contact being insufficient to scratch or dig into these walls. The case will, of course, be free to pass unimpededly through the restricted passage into the transfer spider. However, should the walls of the extraction groove be incorrectly disposed with respect to the closed end of the case, or, in other words, if the flange 8! of a case is slightly less than standard thickness (see dotted lines), then the extraction groove of the substandard case will be lowered relative to the bevelled edge of the blades so that the knife edge 104 no longer clears the sloping walls of the extraction groove, but will dig into these walls or the blade may even dig into the walls of the case above the extraction groove. In either event, the case will be caught and held in the restricted passage and prevented from entering into the transfer spider. Furthermore, all .cases following behind the substandard case will be held up until the defective cases have been detected and removed by the operator.

It has been found that when .30 caliber cases are fed between the knife edges, the cases tend to ride up off of the floor 68 of the slot onto the bevelled edges of the knives due to a camming action between this bevelled edge 104 and the sloping wall 80 of the extraction groove.

Suitable means holding the cases down on the floor 68 and thus maintaining the proper disposition of the extraction groove relative to the knife edges comprises the above described bevelled edge 105 and 108 of the lower plates TBI and 102 respectively of the composite blade 10 and 12. As shown in Fig. 10, the bevelled edge 105 is adapted to extend into the extraction groove slightly above the square corner of the cartridge case flange 8!. Hence, should the case start the climb up off of the floor 68, its flange would engage the bevelled surface 105 and be restrained thereby from any further appreciably upward movement.

Standard cases which pass successively through the stop gauge are received between the fingers of. the transfer spider at the exit end of the gauge and moved clockwise, see Fig. 3, into proximity to the rim of the fixed transfer table 50. During this interval, the bevelled edge 108 of the lower plate (01 fully seats the cases in the fingers of the spider so that the cases will clear the rim of the table.

A modification of the stop gauge described above is illustrated in Figs. 11 to 16, inclusive, and is particularly adapted to the type of tapering press which is manually supplied with cases.

Fig. 11 shows a transfer dial which is essentially the same as the dial shown in Fig. 2, and comprises a fixed table 82 having an upwardly extending rim, a rotary spider 83 provided with bifurcated fingers 84 and a fixed cam block 85 opposite a breech 86 in the rim of the table.

Cartridge cases are fed to the fingers of the spider from a supporting means such as the dial 8! which is rotatably mounted on a fixed frame member having an upstanding wall 89 substantially circumscribing the periphery of the dial 81. A suitable guide member 90 is supported on the dial in fixed relation thereto, its periphery comprising a substantially involute shaped wall 92. As shown in the drawings, the wall 89 and wall 92 form a converging slot 96 adapted to arrange the cases in single file as they are carried forward by the rotating supporting dial 81 to the feed means. The latter comprises an oscillating arm 93, one end of which is carried on a shaft 9 3 and which is provided at its opposite end with a cartridge case pocket 95. As cases are fed from the exit end of the converging slot 96 into the path of the pocket 95 of the oscillating arm 93,

they are swept from the supporting dial into the fingers 84 of the transfer spider 83.

It will be seen that the outer wall 89 of the frame member tapers off and terminates before reaching the exit end of the slot 96 and that the outer wall of the latter, at this point, is formed by the arcuate surface 9'! of a deflector block the wall 92 of the guide member 90.

A modified means for gauging the articles which, in this instance, are .50 caliber cases as they are being urged through the slot 96 to the feed means is shown in detail in Figs. 12 to 16 and comprises a substantially rectangular blade 99 secured in the wall 92 of the guide member 90.

To this end, a recess I is milled or otherwise formed in the underside of the member 90 adjacent the exit end of the slot 96 substantially equal in width to the width of the blade 99. The latter is adapted thus to make a nice sliding fit in the recess I00 in the manner shown in Fig. 13 and may be held securely therein by a pair of screws provided with shock proof lock Washers.

In its secured position within the member 90, an edge I01 of the blade 99 projects slightly beyond the surface of the Wall 92 into the slot 96-so as to form a restricted passage with the opposite wall 91 of the. deflector block. The edge I0! is substantially straight except for the bevel I02 at one end, see Fig. 14, which is adapted to facilitate the entrance of cases into the restricted passage. As in the case of the above described blades, the edge lfll is suitably bevelled as shown in Fig. 15 so as to be extremely sharp.

As shown in Fig. 16, when a cartridge case having. a standard extraction groove l 03 is moved through the restricted passage, it will pass unimpededly by the knife edge Hll. On the other hand, cases having a thin flange, see dotted lines, and hence an extraction groove which is incorrectly disposed relative to the closed end of the case will be stopped within the gauge, for, in

98 which is'adiustably mounted with respect to having a flange and an extraction groove provided with sloping walls; a cartridge case transfer dial; a member for supporting cartridge cases adjacent the transfer dial; means for feeding the cases from said supporting member into said transfer dial; a pair of spaced parallel blades on said supporting member defining a restricted passage for cases being fed to said transfer dial,

said blades having sharp edges constructed and arranged to extend into the extraction grooves of each case in proximity to said sloping walls to enable only those cases having flanges of standard thickness to pass through said restricted passage into said transfer dial.

2. In a machine for gauging tubular articles having a flange and an annular groove; an article transfer dial; a member for supporting articles adjacent the transfer dial; means for feeding the articles from the supporting member into the transfer dial; a pair of fixed spaced parallel blades on said supporting member defining a restricted passage for articles being fed to said transfer dial, said blades being constructed and arranged to project into the annular grooves of said articles to enable only those articles having flanges of standard thickness to pass through said restricted passage into said transfer dial; and means on said pair of blades constructed and arranged to engage the flange of an article to maintain the disposition of its groove normal with respect to said pair of blades.

3. In a machine for gauging cartridge cases having a flange and an extractor groove; a cartridge case transfer dial; a member for supporting the cartridge cases adjacent said transfer dial; means for feeding cases from said supporting means to said transfer dial; a gate associated with said feeding means having a blade adapted to extend into the extraction grooves of cases being fed to said transfer dial to enable only those cases having flanges of standard thickness to pass through said gate to said transfer dial; and a supplementary blad carried by the first 7 blade constructed and arranged to enter the extraction groove of each case and maintain the disposition of the groove normal relative to said first blade.

' JOSEPH L. YABLONSKY. 

